This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-77411, filed Dec. 7, 2001, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating and repairing ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating and repairing ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication, through which erosion and polymer deposition occurring on ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication are decreased by modifying the dielectric surface of a component having an electrical insulation characteristic so that the ceramic components can be repaired after being used.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, plasma is used for etching and deposition during semiconductor fabrication. Here, most of components used for semiconductor fabrication have a dielectric surface, and particularly they are alumina components formed using a sintering process.
During semiconductor fabrication, components having a dielectric surface exposed to plasma sustain damage such as erosion due to a chemical attack by a radical or physical attack due to ion bombardment caused by floating potential of plasma according to plasma conditions. When components are damaged due to erosion, particles occur on a semiconductor wafer due to alien substances, which badly affect a yield of semiconductor fabrication. Accordingly, when the dielectric surface of components is badly damaged due to, for example, erosion, it is necessary to replace the damaged components with new components.
In addition, a polymer generated as a byproduct during semiconductor fabrication must be smoothly attached to and detached from components for semiconductor fabrication according to process conditions. However, since the surface characteristics of components depend on processes of manufacturing the components, it is difficult to modify the surface characteristics except roughness, so it is difficult to control a state of surface of components to be suitable to semiconductor fabrication processes. In this case, components having new characteristics cannot be manufactured without changing the materials and manufacturing methods of all of components.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional method of manufacturing ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication and processing them after using them. As shown in FIG. 1, a ceramic is sintered to manufacture a component for semiconductor fabrication in step S10. Next, the manufactured component is used in step S20. When the component is used, a surface layer of the component is chemically and/or physically etched due to plasma and cleaning in step S30. Then, the component is discarded.
Such conventional ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication are manufactured using a sintering process, so it is difficult to control their surface characteristics except roughness. In addition, when the conventional ceramic components are used, the surface of the ceramic components are chemically etched due to a radical and ion bombardment occurring in a reactor due to plasma, so the surface of the ceramic components erode and corrode. Accordingly, semiconductor fabrication progresses with the ceramic components having a different surface state than an initial surface state. Moreover, as the surface of a ceramic component is continuously etched during reaction, the surface of the ceramic component changes and needs to be replaced with new expensive ceramic component.
The present invention provides a method of fabricating and repairing ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication, through which erosion and polymer deposition occurring on ceramic components for semiconductor fabrication are decreased by modifying the dielectric surface of a component having an electrical insulation characteristic so that the ceramic components can be repaired after being used.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing and repairing a ceramic component for semiconductor fabrication. The method includes activating a surface layer of a component, which is manufactured by sintering a ceramic, and depositing a dielectric coating layer on the surface layer of the ceramic component using a plasma spray process; when the dielectric coating layer is damaged as the ceramic component is used for semiconductor fabrication, removing the dielectric coating layer; and repairing the ceramic component by depositing a dielectric coating layer on the surface layer of the ceramic component from which the damaged dielectric coating layer has been removed.
The depositing the dielectric coating layer includes depositing one material selected from the group consisting of alumina, zirconia, yttria, and YAG on the surface layer of the ceramic component. The repairing the ceramic component includes depositing one material selected from the group consisting of alumina, zirconia, yttria, and YAG on the surface layer of the ceramic component.
According to the present invention, the surface of a component for semiconductor fabrication is coated with alumina powder, yttria powder, YAG powder, or zirconia powder having excellent plasma and chemical resistance to a proper thickness to each semiconductor fabrication process, and the surface roughness and porosity of the coating can be controlled. Therefore, the present invention allows the surface of the component to be in a proper state to each semiconductor fabrication process, thereby reducing contamination due to particles and polymers. In addition, when the surface of the component is damaged, the expensive component for semiconductor fabrication can be repaired and reused by recoating the surface of the component, instead of discarding the component, thereby reducing cost of semiconductor fabrication.